Quantum of Solace, a review by Jon
Quantum of Solace
4 out of 5Picking up from the end of Casino Royale, Bond has captured White and is looking for the next step in a mysterious organisation. But can he put aside his own thirst for revenge?
I’d been looking forward to Quantum of Solace for some time, but word of mouth hadn’t been fantastic. Indeed the first quarter or so is a Bourne sequel, that simple. We start with a shaky cam car chase, a foot chase, then a motorbike, and later, a knife-fight in a supposedly deserted apartment. It’s too much and too violent for a series that should be more elegant and not concerned with fitting in. They’ve been caught aping other films before in an ill-judged attempt to fit in (Moonraker’s laser battle in space when everyone was going mad for Star Wars). This 40-year old is no virgin and is perfectly capable of moulding the audience, not the other way around. The Bourne Ultimatum set the bar for action films, but Bond should be more than that.
Maybe I’m being optimistic, but perhaps the Bourne style was done on purpose to show how after the events of Casino Royale, Bond is more like Bourne; a single-minded killing machine in danger of losing his humanity. If so it was a bad method, but an excellent reason. For the first time ever, we have a true sequel, a part 2 even, which should be welcomed, considering how they used to squander such material (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). There’s room for a gear shift or two during a 22 movie run. Daniel Craig is brilliant, developing the character from rookie agent making mistakes to an all too efficient killer, driven by revenge. He has to learn quickly that this can be used against him. Tellingly, he hasn’t earned the theme yet which would surely herald the fully rounded Bond. I don’t think I heard the motif played until the end credits. Connery got it just by walking through an airport!
This is a true Bond film though and not enough credit has been given to Marc Forster. Because he normally does dramas, I did think this would be more of a thinking man’s Bond. While I was definitely wrong and it is if anything more action than normal, he frequently brings something special and unexpected, from the inventive subtitles heralding another country to fresh ideas in set-pieces like the escape from the opera. In many ways, this is a more satisfying production than Casino Royale, if only the plot was as strong. Or the girls for that matter. Gemma Arterton makes small impact except for giving Craig room to be a more classic show-off Bond, and Olga Kurylenko is saddled with an old plot last seen as recently as Kill Bill. Mathieu Amalric is a great villain though considering he is just another minion of something bigger. I liked that the final showdown took place in fire, compared with water in the first film. Are we seeing a trilogy with the final part to end underground perhaps?
The story does have some fresh takes on an old idea. Quantum is (probably) the new SPECTRE, a notion fans of classic Bond should relish, but there’s a twist in that both British and American governments are seen to be considering dealing with them and arresting Bond instead. Edgy! There’s also a nod to Goldfinger, updating a classic scene. There are no gadgets aside from a really good phone and I might upset some purists here, but is there really a place for them? We all have cool gadgets now anyway and when they tried to stay ahead of the game in the Brosnan era, we had logic defying invisible cars and villains that used the same tailor as Robocop. Much as I enjoyed Roger Moore driving out of the sea, it’s hardly practical and even as a kid I questioned how he always seemed to have the right gadget for the job, but never used it more than once. It’s a huge weight of a plot device. That said there was a brief appearance from a slightly nerdy character in MI6. Q maybe? Anyway this is definitely a Bond for this generation, an audience less convinced by the romantic exploits of old.
Despite not having enough quiet moments, Quantum of Solace is as much a Bond film as Casino Royale and far more of one than Die Another Day. Marc Forster has crafted a film far better than it had any right to be.
(From Quantum of Solace **** on November 23rd, 2008)
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May 20, 2024, 12:28:59 AM
